Joan CRANE

CRANE - Joan (nee Becker)
Of Lexington, MA and formerly of Buffalo, Joan passed away peacefully at age 101 on February 7, 2020. A daughter of Max Becker and Frances Mann Becker, Joan graduated from Oldfields School and attended Sarah Lawrence College. In 1941, she married fellow Buffalonian James L. Crane, Jr. James served in both WWII and Korea, where he suffered a serious head injury. Joan's resilience and positive attitude helped carry them through the 65 years of marriage. Joan was an avid tennis and golf player (several times a club champion in both sports), an accomplished bridge player, a dedicated volunteer (especially for Benedict House, a hospice for AIDS patients), and a sales associate and buyer of women's clothing for Par Avion. Joan had a great many friends in Buffalo, in Lorraine (Port Colborne, Ontario, where the family spent summers), and elsewhere. She loved to travel internationally with Jim, her mother, and other friends and family members. Joan is predeceased by her husband Jim; their oldest son, James L. Crane, III; her sister Frances Braman; and her cousin "Dutch" Cole. Living at Brookhaven (a retirement community in Lexington, MA) since 2008, Joan's bridge and social skills stood her well, although near the end of her life her failing memory began to take its toll. She kept her sense of humor (especially laughing at herself), and her strong spirit will live on in all her family. Joan leaves her sister Barbara Dearborn of Sarasota, FL; her brother Max Becker, Jr. of Buffalo; her son William G. Crane and his wife Barbara of Somerville, MA; her son Thomas M. Crane and his wife Elizabeth of Portland, ME; her daughter-in-law Catherine R. Crane of New York, NY; her grandchildren Melissa LaSalle, Tracy Crane, Elizabeth Tipton, Sarah
O'Neill, Madeleine Crane and Lucy Crane; and her great-grandchildren J.P. and Emily LaSalle, Molly and Hannah Tipton, and Paige and Malcolm O'Neill. Memorial services will be held at Brookhaven and at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Buffalo, at later dates. Contributions in her memory may be made to Westminster Church, 724 Delaware Ave., Buffalo, NY 14209.